The present invention relates to a method for introducing carbon dioxide for preparation of carbonated beverage and, more particularly, to a method for introducing carbon dioxide that involves placing a beverage composition having a temperature of 10 to 30° C. in a container, introducing solid or liquid carbon dioxide having a temperatureof −78.5 to −5° C. to the beverage composition having a temperature of 10 to 30° C. in the container, and then sealing the container immediately after introduction of the carbon dioxide.
The carbonated beverage prepared by the method of introducing carbon dioxide for preparation of carbonated beverage according to the present invention has almost little change in the temperature and the saturated vapor pressure of the carbon dioxide, so the carbon dioxide has the saturated vapor pressure of approximately 1.0 atmospheric pressure, almost without causing overflow of the carbonated beverage or evaporation of the carbon dioxide.
Carbonated beverages are defined as a liquid for drinking that contains carbon dioxide dissolved in it, and their examples include soda drink, sparkling water, flavored soda drink, sparkling liquor, etc. First of all, the soda drink refers to a beverage that has carbon dioxide dissolved in a drinking water containing food or food additives (excluding colors and/or flavors). The sparkling water is a purified spring water that naturally contains carbon dioxide or has carbon dioxide dissolved in it. The flavored soda drink refers to a soda drink containing food additives (e.g., colors and/or flavors). The sparkling liquor means a fermented ethyl alcohol liquor containing carbon dioxide dissolved in it.
Unlike oxygen, carbon dioxide has an inhibitory performance on spontaneous combustion and thus can be used as an ingredient for a fire extinguisher to put out a fire. Carbon dioxide as used herein has a chemical formula of CO2 and also refers to “carbonic acid” or “anhydrous carbonic acid”. Carbon dioxide exists in the Earth's atmosphere at a concentration of about 0.03%. It is produced by combustion of carbon-containing substances, respiration of all living organisms, and so forth and emitted from erupting volcanoes. On the other hand, carbon dioxide is also consumed by plants during the process of carbonic acid assimilation. Thus the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is almost constantly controlled. Carbon dioxide is an odorless and tasteless gas that has a boiling point of −78.5° C., a triple point of −56.6° C. at 5.2 atm, a critical temperature of 31.0° C., and a critical pressure of 72.80 atm. The volume of carbon dioxide dissolved in 1 L of water is 1.71 L at 0° C. and 0.44 L at 50° C. When dissolved in water, part of the dissolved carbon dioxide becomes H2CO3 or HCO3−, or CO3−2 which is acidic. The industrial uses of carbon dioxide are preparation of urea or sodium carbonate (soda ash) and preparation of solid carbonated beverages. As carbon dioxide inhibits the respiration of plants, it can be used for controlled atmospheric (CA) storage to extend the storage period of fruits and vegetables after the harvest. Carbon dioxide can also be used for removing astringency in tart persimmon fruits. Further, with the development of the supercritical gas extraction technique using carbon dioxide in the supercritical state as a solvent, carbon dioxide can be used in the preparation of decaffeinated coffee, the preparation of essential oils from spices, the extraction of γ-linoleinic acid from Oenothera odorata Jacquin, and so forth.
A general method for the process of introducing carbon dioxide to a beverage composition to prepare a carbonated beverage involves blending liquid carbon dioxide having a temperature of −30° C. to −5° C. and a beverage having a temperature of 10° C. to 30° C., placing the blend in a container, and sealing the container. To keep a large amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the beverage, it is unavoidably necessary to lower the temperature of the unmixed beverage composition or keep the beverage composition under high pressure. Due to the saturated vapor pressure, this can cause creation/overflow of bubbles and evaporation of the carbon dioxide when pouring the beverage into a container.